This blog was created for Niles Animal Hospital & Bird Medical Center by Peter S. Sakas DVM in an effort to provide information & discussion about animal related issues. It may move into some eccentric directions on occasion if the mood strikes me as I get more comfortable in this form of communication. I am open to suggestions & comments about the blog. Also view our hospital website www.nilesanimalhospital.com or Facebook page Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Origins of Domestic Dogs

The Origins of Domestic Dogs

“Evolution
of dog” is explored in two scientific articles that emerged just
recently. We thought you might enjoy seeing the evidence that traces the
evolution of domestic dogs back to the wild wolf, starting more than
18,000 years ago.

Today’s domestic dogs are more closely related to ancient and now-extinct European wolves than today’s wolves, according to UCLA scientists who have completed genetic analyses and reported their findings in the November issue of Science. The
website Phys.org. covered this groundbreaking news in an extensive
article this month. The article quoted Robert Wayne, a professor of
ecology and evolutionary biology in UCLA’s College of Letters and Science and
senior author of the research, as stating, “This brings the genetic
record into agreement with the archaeological record. Europe is where
the oldest dogs are found.” To arrive at these conclusions, “the
researchers studied 10 ancient ‘wolf-like’ animals and eight ‘dog-like’
animals, mostly from Europe, using the mitochondrial DNA of the animals,
“which is abundant in ancient remains.” Professor Wayne remarked, “The
domestication of predatory wolves likely occurred among ancient
hunter-gatherer groups…” and, “followed the migratory patterns of early
humans.” Read the complete article.

A related story on UK.Reuters.com picked up on the concept of how
ancient European wolves evolved to become the domestic dogs we know
today. The article noted, “Researcher Olaf Thalmann, from Finland’s
University of Turku, stated that the division of dogs into the breeds
known today took a long time, with the earliest dogs remaining similar
to modern wolves. ‘Modifying a wolf into a Chihuahua is clearly a long
process,’ says Thalmann.” See the Reuters story.